I would say for me it's because I would use it as my primary OS if it where possible. I find myself constantly searching for/making ways to do everything in ST. I guess it's the freedom to customize and it's incredible speed that makes it so. It's a sucky explanation but it's all I have. The price is right if you want to see it where you want it to go.

While I'm a stickler for open source software, I found myself using Sublime Text more often than Aptana, for web development work. I ran the evaluation for a month and with the help from the community, integrated Sublime into my daily workflow with a few additional plugins. For $70, it's paid for itself already with time and efficiency. It's clean, unobtrusive and slick. What more could you want?

But is $70 really a good price? If the goal is to maximize revenues (product sold * price of product), what is the optimal price for maximum revenues? I am very curious as to how someone arrived at the price of $70.

It is true that there are many free text editors out there. Sublime is not an IDE, and so one might think "Why should I buy it?". That and there is no time limit to using the trial version. I suggest you take a look at http://net.tutsplus.com/articles/news/perfect-workflow-in-sublime-text-free-course/. Mr. Jeffery Way shows a lot of features that are unique to Sublime Text. I've watched the first 10 or so and I think it is very cool compared to other editors.

To answer the "Why should I buy it?" question:

It depends on whether you can afford to pay for it. If you can't, you'll have to put up with the unregistered version's reminder pop-up when it shows up. Think of it this way though: let's say you made a really cool program or website that offers very useful services. Depending on how many people are helping you (if any) develop the project, as well as how time consuming it will be to implement the project, you will probably want to get some compensation from others using your services. For example, if I make a simple tic-tac-toe web-based game, I probably would not charge people for playing the game. If I make an application that helps businesses run more smoothly, such as a mobile app template that allows customization with pre-built functionality (add clients, calculate expenses and earnings, etc.), it would probably take me quite a bit of time and money as well on my end (I may need to hire other developers more experienced in a particular area, they will want to get something too.) It is reasonable to charge some money for these services; I may give a free month to new users so they can see if they like it, and then charge a reasonable monthly fee.

Mr. Jon Skinner is being very nice to us and only charging a one-time fee of $70. You are free to use this license on as many computers as you want. For the amazing features unique to Sublime Text, as well as the license terms, I think it's very affordable and a nice way to help Mr. Skinner out; I'm sure he has expenses of his own to cover.

Still using the evaluation. I was waiting for print support before registering. Now I'm thinking I'll just register for v3 when it's released. Sublime Text is good, but it's by no means perfect. In some sense the price is reasonable, but in others it's high. On Mac, I look at other software such as Pixelmator which is very good and not expensive (maybe 1/2 to 1/3 the price of Sublime Text).

I haven't used this forum for months. How can you be still discussing this?

I use ST every day to write code:- Web dev (HTML/CSS/JS/PHP/Haxe)- App dev (Adobe Air)- Game dev (C#, C++)

While not perfect, ST can solve all your coding needs and you should be able to produce it's price with a few hours of work. 70$ is peanuts for god's sake.

Stop thinking ST is just an editor. An editor does not upload files, does not use GIT commands, does not call compilers with params, etc. If you want an editor try TextWrangler which is free and does just that: edit text files.

I too, when I first came upon Sublime Text, asked "why so expensive?"For me it was a big deal, I am a pensioner and only code part-time to keep my mind active but after only a few days I changed my mind.I am using the beta of version 3 and there is NO WAY I could ever go back to something else.If you only want to edit text then fine go somewhere else but if you want a tool that does ALL that ST does, and as fast, then there is no option.

This is without a question one of the finest pieces of software I have ever used and I will, and do, tell any who listen to use it.

So to answer the question posed in the OP:

Because it is simply the best at doing what it does and if you think it is too expensive then you are not using it for it's right purpose.

Put it this way. Would you buy a Ferrari if you were only going to drive to the shops and back? No. You'd get by with a Mazda or something.But if your neighbour said "here use my Ferrari, and if you want you can help with the fuel costs, otherwise no problem." Would you drive it and complain about how much fuel it uses? Or say "Wow. I'm driving a Ferrari."

If you don't want to buy it don't buy it.I've used ST2 for a long time when I was a student, but never bought it because I didn't have much money to spare. When I got a job I didn't have to think twice about buying ST3. It's great and considering the time I spend using it ST hardly costs me anything.

Sublime Text is the best software purchase I've ever made. I'll happily buy ST3 the day it goes on sale even if the price is 10x ST2. My only complaint about this software is that it has set the bar so high, every other software is trash in comparison.

I look back at the days when I was sadly leaving Textmate, and I can't believe I ever dragged my feet. Sublime Text is the best software I've ever used.

I use vim/gvim/cream, emacs, jed, kate and now Sublime Text on Kubuntu linux depending on exactly what I need to do.

Admittedly I may never get to learn how to use any of these to the full but I bought ST purely for its regex and search capabilities. With huge text files to edit and keep up to date I found that the other linux editors that I have available just didn't meet my needs. $70 was very well spent in my case.

Months ago, I'd say Sublime Text is totally worth the price and isn't expensive at all.But the fact you get zero support with it and he rarely responds to a support request, Jon refuses to turn on email notification for the forums so you have to waste tons of time checking for responses to posts or just not get any responses I'd have to say yes it is over priced.

Love the product, and really love it works on Windows & Mac so seamlessly but at a premium price for a text editor the lack of respect he has for his customers is epic.

I don't use firefox, but I have a tool I use to monitor for updates, but it's a pain to have to keep adding each thread and having it go out and check hundreds of threads over time for updates. It's pathetic having to do that just because Jon thinks setting up a mail server is too much work (it is likely already available on his Rackspace server and if not it takes 30 seconds to setup) yet takes us thousands of hours to monitor on our end.

You bleat about getting no support and think the software is too expensive.

If it is so bad why are so many users here talking about how great it is.What do want Jon to do? Continue working on making a great product or respond to your whining?

All I can say is, if I were Jon I would be glad not having to deal with inconsiderate and ignorant users like you.

If you don't like something, just walk away from it. Or are you just here to spark a response?

I actually love the product and have stated this many times. I hate the lack of respect for his paying customers.

What are we children? No one is whining here, we are making a point and a valid one at that. He is running a business, you buy something you expect support. it doesn't need to be him, it has to be someone. He can hire someone if he doesn't want to do it. Expecting support with a product you are paying a premium for (and $70 for a text editor with a $30 upgrade fee around the corner is a premium) is not whining. What you are doing is more akin to whining than anything else, so go put your big boy pants on.

I have to admit I find the lack of forum notifications annoying as well. It means if I ask a question, I have to come back to see if there are any answers or suggestions.

I don't believe I am whining. On the one hand, I don't believe developers become slaves of users. They put out a product, we pay, that's the deal. And of course Jon can charge what he likes. But on the other hand, I do believe some developers make apps that are pretty good but have bugs or issues that linger, releases that come but only slowly, and so on. In those cases it seems like they are content to let the money flow one way but not to have anything but a single download flow another way. No roadmap etc. In fact that is the entire reason I am here, TextMate is great but obviously the developers were being that way, so I came here.

I only use two paid programs day to day on Mac to make stuff: Sublime Text and Pixelmator. One is a text editor and the other is an image editing programming. Similar sorts of programs for similar demographics. Pixelmator is much less expensive ($15 vs. $70) but I would say it's a better program, doing more with more polish and documentation. Plus if I have issues, a google search reveals active forums with answers from the company. They don't always have the answer I'm looking for but at least they're trying.

So I'm in the position of wanting to love Sublime Text and its community and say $70 is a worthy price, but I can't endorse it yet. And I'll pay for the upgrade but I'll do it grudgingly. If there were a better editor out there I'd switch. Or I've thought of writing my own text editor, but I'd rather make games. I just think if I were making a text editor, I'd want my users to pay not just because they are held hostage by there not being a better option, but because I'm offering solid value for their money.